Show The GRAPHIC BIBLE McClure SLata By LEWIS LENS BROWNE R NU S Iv 1 0 th of c Lose s 1 e ter cri G a ar at t r rN I T w r r tyres The Kingdom of SaulI SaulI SaulT Saul T 1 WAS the menace of a united HT I that drove the Is- Is Israelites Israelites Is Israelites to unite They could not help but realize that soon they would be utterly destroyed It if they remained without a head Therefore they called on a holy man named Samuel who dwelt at Ram Bam Bamah Ramah Ram Ram-ah ah asking him to select a n king for tor Israel Samuel guided ed by Jehovah chose a stalwart middle aged farm tarm- farmer farmer er named Saul and e events soon proved how wise was the choice An old enemy the Ammonites had just made a raid on In Gilead demanding that Its Inhabitants inhabitants Inhabitants tants not only pa pay ransom but hut also an allow ow their right eyes ces to be gouged out The rhe men of sent a desperate plea for help to their kinsmen across the Jordan and Saul Immediately responded With Witha a dire threat of ot vengeance If It they refused he summoned the braves bra ot of all the Hebrew tribes to follow him to the relief of Ills summons was obeyed and with n a horde at his heels Saul swept down and delivered It was a great victory for Saul and well wen established his right to the kingship With one accord the el- el elders elders ci ciders ders of Israel assembled In the hills at an ancient sanctuary named Gil gal gal al and there formally Cormany crowned Saul their monarch The war with the Philistines then took a new turn At the tide was turned and the Hebrews won their first great victory over tills this enemy The Philistines were driven en back to their coastal plain and Saul was left free to attend to the other He organized a standing army of ot which hIs Ills own tribe Benjamin was the backbone and with this tills army he waged un- un untirIng untiring un untiring tiring war on every frontier Never Kever to Ills his dying day did Saul succeed In ridding Israel of Its en- en enemies en enemies emles but succeed he did In nt at least hol holding those enemies at bay e Sauls Saul's kingdom was no more than thana a narrow strip of country hill along the River Jordan It had no fixed frontiers and was never free from attack As you ou can see by the map the bythe little realm was surrounded by the Philistines Phoe Phoe- Phoenicians Phoenicians Edo Edo- mites Edo mites Ammonites and And of ot all these races racca only the Phoenicians who were seafaring traders did not seek to overrun Sauls Saul's territory The most Impregnable impregnable Impregnable stronghold In the land the city later called Jerusalem was still In the hands of ot the tribe known as the nut lint what was perhaps more men men- menacing menacing menacing acing to Israel was not the hostility outside the nation but the dissen dissen- dissension dissension sion slon within Saul though an ex- ex excellent ex excellent warrior was a wretched statesman lie He was jealous hot tempered hot tempered and at times quite mad anything fitted anything but the sort of man Dlan fit fit- fitted ted to weld the Hebrew tribes Into a fast and solid union As a result he very ery soon ran Into difficulties He ITe broke with the prophet Samuel and thus alienated nn an Important element In the population the lation-the lation the prophets Iu In those days there were t to be found throughout t Israel many bands of holy men who went up and down the country shouting excitedly about the glories of Jehovah The Hebrew farmers and shepherds stood In great grent awe of these prophets for they were sup sup- posed supposed to possess all sort of magic powers Important Nor Kor was Samuel the only tant person whom Saul antagonized I 1 In addition there was the gallant warrior David Philistia the Enemy TIlE THE various tribes of ot Israel were ruled by chieftains who were called judges These chieftains did not Inherit their office but won It largely through military prowess When a n tribe bad had to go to war It made Its ablest warrior the leader and usually retained him as the civil ruler after the war was ended Some of the judges were anything but true men of ot Jehovah and their Influence on the people was often not altogether righteous Matters therefore went from bad to worse In Israel Each tribe fought for Itself and there was no trace of ot unity among them Only the even greater lack of ot unity among the natives made It possible for the newcomers to retain their hold on the hills But soon the Hebrews were brought face to face with more re- re redoubtable re- re redoubtable re redoubtable doubtable enemies than the natIve Just as the Hebrews themselves had Invaded Canaan a generation or two earlier so now other desert tribes sought to Invade the land Among them there came the who swept up along the East Jordan lands and terror terror- terrorIzed terrorized terrorized over all Israel Only after 18 years e rs were they driven back by Ehud judge of ot the tribe of Benjamin The Ammonites too came raiding from th the east enst and the and the But these in- in incessant In Incessant invasions proved a blessing In disguise for they gradually drove the Hebrew tribes to unite Judges G 8 tells a significant story The who for centuries had roamed In the desert esert far tar to the southeast of ot Canaan had come up and aud were spreading terror along nil all the frontiers of ot Israel For seven years ears they raided and plundered al- al almost al almost most without hindrance But finally there arose a Hebrew farmer named Gideon who with fighting men picked not alone from his own tribe Manasseh but also from Asher Zeb- Zeb Zebulun Zebulun Zeb and Naphtali made a sudden attack on the Invaders and drove them back across the ravine of ot the Jordan But nut the tribes from the desert were as nothing compared with an- an another another an another other Invading host host the Philistines These Philistines were not original original- originally ly a Semitic folk from Arabia They came It seems from Crete or the northern coast of ot the tho Me Mediterranean an and they may have reached Canaan first as pirates Already In the time of Joshua the Philistines on the coast had grown so numerous that they were begin begin- beginning beginning ning to spread up Into the very ery hills which the Hebrews were trying to conquer It was Inevitable there there- therefore therefore therefore fore that the two peoples should clash At first the Philistines were easIly easily easily ily the victors for they were better armed than the Hebrews vs and for far better organized The kings of their five chief states city-states In Gaza Ashdod Gath and were Ekron-were were close allies ames The He lle- Hebrews Hebrews brews who possessed only the most primitive weapons and were total total- totally totally totally ly disorganized had bad little chance against them Under the leadership ot of a strong man like Samson they were able to wage guerilla warfare against the Philistines but when It came to a pitched battle they were utterly lost At the Hebrews went down downto downto downto to a n crushing defeat defeat and the Ark ot of Jehovah which had led them all through the wilderness was cap car captured captured by the Philistines |